“Full aerial view” of Carbon Grove Estates as envisioned by Dwain Carbon and partners.
PHILIPSBURG--“In two months everything’s gonna be finished for you guys, I guarantee you,” said Dwain Carbon’s wife Josefina on Monday in an audio message to clients who invested in Carbon Grove three, four or more years ago without getting the real estate property they paid for. Those who demand to be reimbursed were told to remain calm. “Police know who you are.”
The message was sent via WhatsApp. Josefina “Arony” Nunez Carbon said on behalf of her husband that the couple is not hiding from creditors. “We are not hiding here [in the United States – Ed.] We don’t have to; we only have to look for solutions to pay you guys. That is our first priority.”
The owners of Carbon Acquisition Group (CAG) and its holding company Melbon Enterprises sold the rights to apartments in Carbon Grove Estates in Cole Bay to first and unsuspecting second or third buyers. The couple, as well as Carbon’s parents, brother and other shareholders, collected down payments of 50% of the purchase price of apartments in Guana Bay that only existed on paper and will not be built, as the land was publicly auctioned off on June 22, 2023, at the request of the lender.
The CAG family furthermore sold “fractional ownership” in a new-to-be-built hotel in Simpson Bay for which they had no building permit and would not be able to obtain a permit in the future. Collectively, FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) and Melbon/CAG’s clientele and former employees are owed more than US $10 million.
“It’s not two dollars. That is why it takes time, that is why we are still waiting,” said Nunez Carbon in her voice message on Sunday afternoon. “But thank God, in two months everything’s gonna be finished for you guys. I guarantee you in the name of Jesus.”
Carbon’s wife went on to say that she knows about the group chat that was created by duped clients on WhatsApp, and that she is aware of what members have posted in the group chat. While The Daily Herald has witnessed that members merely stated that they want justice, that they want the Prosecutor to launch an investigation into the wrongdoings of Carbon et al, and that they want to be reimbursed, Nunez Carbon alleges that the group is “creating something” against the family.
What she saw in the group chat was alarming enough for her to alert legal representatives, Nunez Carbon said. “I have already passed all what happened in the group to my lawyer here in America, to my lawyer in St. Maarten and to our lawyer in Santo Domingo.” The Dominicana said it is not true that she has “a hotel, or money, or whatever” in Santo Domingo. “Everything is transparent in the world, everything you can find out.”
She then said she did not send the voice message to create problems. “But if something happens to my children, to my family here in America,” Nunez Carbon stressed, the police in the United States know who is responsible. “I put the names in the documents for the lawyer and police; if something happens to my children, to my husband or to myself, the police know who they are.”
In two months’ time, there will be “an end to the movie”, she said. “Because this is crazy what is going on. I know that you have all information about us, that you have pictures of where we live. I don’t mind, I don’t care. I am not hiding; we are not hiding. We will continue our battle, and not sleep, looking for the money for you guys.”
